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He said: 'He went for a review following an eye operation he had earlier on. He will be back on Sunday.'

Zimbabwe's government has previously been accused of lying about Mugabe's faltering health in a bid to protect the dictator from adverse publicity.

The Standard reported that the president's office repeatedly claimed he had been receiving eye care when it was widely known he was instead being treated for cancer.

U.S. diplomatic wires, revealed by Wikileaks, reported that the country's reserve bank chief Gideon Gono (pictured) said Mugabe had then been given just five years to live and said he could be dead by 2013

Speculation about Mugabe's health has been rife for several years after the former liberation figure appeared to become increasingly frail.

It has heightened in recent weeks following the publication of leaked diplomatic cables which appeared to confirm he was suffering from prostate cancer.

The US diplomatic wires, published by Wikileaks, quoted senior Zimbabwean officials who said Mugabe had been diagnosed in 2008.

The country's reserve bank chief Gideon Gono even claimed he had then been given just five years to live and told he could be dead by 2013.

One cable, sent in 2008 by America's then-ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee, said: 'Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, told the Ambassador on June 4 that President Robert Mugabe has prostate cancer that has metastasised and, according to doctors, will cause his death in three to five years.

'According to Gono, Mugabe's doctor had recommended he cut back on his activities.'

Despite the ongoing speculation, Zimbabwe's government has repeatedly denied that the dictator is sick.

However many believe his allies have done so amid fears his departure could spark a political battle for succession.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with a rod of iron since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.

The tyrant has been criticised in the past for using the public purse to fund his private trips abroad.

Earlier this year it emerged Mugabe had hugely overspent his travel budget on a string of foreign flights.

The despot does not have a private jet but often simply comandeers a plane from Zimbabwe's state-run airline when he wants to travel overseas.